Mailbox fitting



mm SM M NF RL 1 WM Filed Sept. 27, 1944 lllllll lIll Ill-ll:

INVENTOR wu-Lmm amwrs n BY ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 13, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MAILBOX FITTING William R. Bankson, Pittsburgh, Pa. Application September 27, 1944, Serial No. 556,042

1 Claim.

This invention relates to an improved mail box somewhat of the type disclosed in my Patent numbered 1,777,740, and issued October 7, 1930.

Important objects and advantages of the present invention are to provide a mail box of the character described, which is automatically operable to uniformly stack letter mail with the addressed side thereof generally turned in the same direction, and under such conditions greatly facilitate and expedite the handling, sorting and postal cancellation of letter mail, and which embodies a chute entrance door constructed, positioned, and operated in the manner identical to the conventional type of entrance door in general use on United States letter mail boxes.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts herein specifically described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, but it is to be understood that the latter is merely illustrative of an embodiment of the invention, and that the actual needs of practice and manufacture may require certain mechanical variations from the embodiment shown. It is, therefore, not intended to limit the invention to the disclosure thereof herein illustrated, but rather to define such limitations to the scope of the claim hereunto appended.

In the drawing wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the mail box, partly in cross section, with the doors in the open position, and with the operating mechanism in the letter stacking position.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the mail box, partly in cross section, with the chute entrance door removed, and with the letter stacking mechanism in the operative position.

Figure 3 is a transverse cross sectional view of the chute entrance door. 7

Referring in detail to the drawing I denotes an oblong, rectangularly-shaped mail receptacle, having a, chute casing 2 mounted on the top of the forward end thereof. The mail receptacle is provided with a side door 3 for allowing the removal of letter mail from the receptacle. The side door constitutes an entire side wall of the receptacle rearward of the chute casing, and is hinged to the receptacle bottom 4. The receptacle top 5 carries a laterally disposed staple 6 for engagement in a registering slot 1 at the free side edge of the side door and for the reception of a suitable locking element for securing the receptacle against entrance thereto by unauthorized persons.

A mail chute 8, extendin at an angle from the vertical, is mounted and fixed in position in the chute casing 2 by means of supporting brackets 9 and It, or in any other suitable manner. The mail chute has an open lower end that is disposed against the lower end of the rear wall of the chute casing. The upper end of the mail chute is disposed adjacent to the front wall of the chute casing and inclines at an angle from the vertical and has its top opening ll disposed directly rearward of the front opening l2, which latter is provided at the upper end of the front wall of the chute casing.

A chute entrance door I3 is hingedly connected at its lower end to the chute casing 2 by means of the pivoting lugs I4 and I5, respectively carried by the chute door and the chute casing, connected by th pivoting pins It. The chute door is shifted or swung upwardly to the verticalclosed position to thereby close the casing front opening 12 and further to simultaneously close the angularly disposed opening II at the upper end of the chute 8. Whe in the open position the chute door extends horizontally outward, as shown in Figure 1. The hinged connection, position, and operation of the chute door is identical to the conventional letter mail inlet door of standard letter United States mail boxes in common use.

Theside walls of the chute casing 2 are spaced from the side walls of the chute 8, to provide clearance for a pair of similar L-shaped operating levers H, which are positioned at respective sides of the chute and each of which comprises a long arm l8 and a short arm 19. The operating levers are rigidly fixed to respective end of a horizontally disposed pivoting shaft 20 at the angle juncture of the associated arms. The shaft 20 is pivotally mounted, at the front of the chute, in a pair of bearing lugs 2| carried by the latter.

The long arms I 8, of the operating levers H, depend into the mail receptacle I, and carry a horizontally disposed closure block 22 therebetween. The latter is fixed to said long arms and serves to close the open lower end of the chute 8 when the letter stacking mechanism is in the operative position, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. Owing to the fixed connections of the pivoting shaft 20 and of the closure block 22 with the operating levers 11, the latter will shift in unison as an integral structure durin the operation of the stacking mechanismto be described.

A stackin plate 23 is mounted between the lower ends of the long arms 18, and is shiftably joined with the latter by the pivotal connection 24. The latter are above the center of the stacking plate, so that said stacking plate will be overbalanced to normally maintain a perpendicular edgewise suspension by gravity action, as shown in dash lines in Figure l. A stop leg 25 is fixed to and depends from the closure block 22. The lower free end of the stop leg is positioned to engage the forward face of the stacking plate below the connections 24 so as to limit the angular movement of said stacking plate during the letter stacking operation, as shown in Figure 1.

The chute door l3 carries a pair of fixed lever lugs 25, which are disposed adjacent to respective pivoting lugs M of said door, and project rearwardly into the chute casing 2.

The short arms 19, of the operating levers ll,

extend rearwardly in the chute casing 2, and the free end of each of said short arms is pivotally connected, as at 21, to the lower end of a connecting bar 28. The upper ends of the connecting bars are pivotally connected, as at 29, to respective door lever lugs 26. Such operative connection of the chute door 13 with the operating levers ll will actuate the latter to shift the stacking plate 23 rearwardly to the stacking position each time said door 13 is pulled manually to the open position. The weight of the stacking plate is such that when the open door I3 is released, the latter will be drawn automatically to its closed position by gravity action.

A slide member 30 is mounted on the bottom 4 in the receptacle l, and inclines upwardly from its rearward to its forward end. The slide member is approximately equal to said bottom in length and width. Shiftably or slidably positioned on the slide member is a substantially L-shaped letter support 3!. The latter is of a width approximating the width of the slide member, and the front face thereof is disposed at an angle from the vertical to provide an inclined rest for the mail letters 32 when stacked thereagainst, on edge, as shown in Figure 1.

In practice the improved mail box is operated by pulling the chute entrance door l3 to the open position, whereby the lower end of the chute 8 is closed by the closure block 22, and the stacking plate 23 is shifted rearwardly to stack the 4 previously inserted letter mail. The letter mail can only be inserted vertically edgewise into the chute through the inclined upper chute opening H, and remains in the chute until the door I3 has shifted to the closed position. When the door [3 is released, the suspension and weight of the stacking plate 23 will draw the said door to the closed position, and the closure block 22 will shift from beneath the lower end of the chute and allow the inserted letter mail to drop into the receptacle I between the retracted stacking plate 23 and letter support 3| on the slide member 30.

The width of the improved mail box allows the passage of letter mail 32 into the chute 8 and receptacle I in the vertical edgewise position only, and in consequence all letter mail will be stacked on edge and at a rearward inclination against the letter support 3|, as shown in Figure 1.

Due to the inclination of the slide member 30, the stacked letter mail together with the support 31 may readily be shifted rearward on said slide member, by the operation of the stacking mechanism, to accommodate subsequent letter mail insertions.

The stacked letter mail is, of course removed from the receptacle l by an authorized mailman through the side door 3. The mailman manually returns the letter support 3| to its forward position on the slide member 30 each time the mail is removed from the receptacle.

The present invention provides a most eificient device of its kind, which may be economically manufactured and maintained, and which may be successfully and conveniently employed for the purpose and in the manner herein set forth.

What I claim is:

In a letter mail box of the class described, the combination with a letter chute and with operating levers pivotally supported by the chute and carrying a fixed closure block and a pivotally connected stacking plate, of a stop leg fixed to and depending from the closure block, the lower free end of said leg being positioned to engage the stacking plate below the pivotal connection of the latter to limit the angular movement of the stacking block during the letter stacking operation.

WILLIAM R. BANKSON. 

